Local tennis player Ellen Perez returned to Kiama earlier this week to fine-tune her game after flying in from Florida.

The 29-year-old from Shellharbour, who is 15th in the world in the women’s doubles rankings, was bundled out of the WTA tournament in Miami at the Round of 32 stage.

Along with her new doubles partner Jelena Ostapenko, they were seeded fourth at the tournament. 

They won the first set 6-4, lost the second 6-2 then bowed out 10-7 in a third-set tie-break to American duo Peyton Stearns and Ekaterina Alexandrova. 

Ostapenko, from Latvia, has had a career-high world ranking of No.5 in singles.

Perez, who was born in Wollongong and learned how to play the sport as a junior with the Oak Flats Tennis Club, has reached 162 in the world in singles and the seventh ranking in doubles.

Joe Moseley and Ellen Perez at Kiama.

Her earlier than expected exit from the WTA tournament in Miami gave her an opportunity to quickly return home to see her parents John and Mitsi, and family.

She also took the opportunity to catch up with her local hitting partner Joe Moseley, the Kiama Tennis Club coach, who was able to put her through her paces in a very solid workout.

Perez has been selected in the Australian team coached by Sam Stosur for the Billie Jean King Cup, formerly known as the Fed Cup. 

She will be joined by Maya Joint, Ajla Tomljanovic, Storm Hunter and Kim Birrell to compete in Group D of the competition at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane on 10 April. 

After a short family visit, she travelled to Melbourne for training with the team before their first match against Kazakhstan and then Colombia.

By David Graham